Start Your Challenge
Many of us grew up hearing this familiar saying:
"Finish your food! There are starving children in Africa."
It was a message our parents used to encourage us not to waste food. But let's look at it from a different perspective.
Imagine you're sitting in a restaurant with a plate of food.
Once the meal has already been prepared and served, whether you eat the entire plate, half the plate, or none of it, a child on the other side of the world is still just as hungry.
Now imagine you force yourself to finish everything because you don't want to "waste" food.
You overeat.
Later, you spend money on doctor visits, medication, dieting, or a gym membership because of unhealthy eating habits.
Congratulations... you managed to spend even more money trying to avoid "wasting" your dinner!
A more practical approach is to prevent unnecessary consumption before it happens.
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Don't order or buy it in the first place if it isn't necessary.
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Before ordering or buying something new, ask whether you can use what you already have instead. At a restaurant, there may be options such as combining side dishes, ordering a smaller portion, or sharing a meal.
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Only order or buy what you reasonably expect to use.
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Take leftovers home and enjoy them as another meal.
Three Steps to Be Kind to Our Planet
Step 1: Prevent Unnecessary Consumption
The most environmentally friendly item is often the one you never need to buy.
Before purchasing something new, ask yourself:
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Do I already have something that can do the same job?
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Can I borrow it?
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Can I repair what I already have?
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Can I repurpose something instead?
Step 2: Reuse & Repurpose
Before throwing something away, consider whether it can serve another purpose.
Many everyday items can enjoy a second life with a little creativity.
Examples include:
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Turn old clothing, towels, blankets, and fabric scraps into pet beds.
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Reuse stuffing from old teddy bears and stuffed animals as filling for pet beds.
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Reuse shipping boxes for grocery shopping, storage, or organizing.
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Repurpose glass jars for storage.
Step 3: Recycle
When an item has reached the end of its useful life, recycle it whenever possible.
Recycling helps recover valuable materials and reduces the amount of waste sent to landfills.
What is Stormwater?
Stormwater is the excess water from rain, snowmelt and irrigation that doesn’t absorb into the ground and become surface runoff. By itself, stormwater is not bad. We need stormwater to refill aquifers and reservoirs, and nourish vegetation and farmlands.
Stormwater is rain and melted snow that flows over streets, sidewalks, and other
surfaces, picking up pollutants along the way.
What is Stormwater Pollution?
“Stormwater Pollution” refers to pollution that rainstorms or snow melt can flush into our waterways, often untreated via local sewers and highway stormways. The stronger the storms, the greater the amount of pollutants that enter state waters untreated. Sources of pollution include trash, dangerous chemicals (including automotive fluids), metals, sediments (including road sand), and bacteria from pet waste.
Why is this dangerous?
Polluted stormwater can be more dangerous than the water that goes down a sink or toilet in your home. This is because stormwater is untreated and flows directly into lakes, rivers or the ocean. In contrast, dirty water from our sinks and toilets go first to water treatment facilities.
Because stormwater is untreated, any pollutants it collects—like trash, chemicals, pet waste, and vehicle fluids—directly contaminate our waterways. This pollution harms aquatic life, can make water unsafe for swimming and fishing, and can even pose serious health risks. Contact with polluted water can cause skin infections, stomach illness, and increase exposure to harmful bacteria and parasites, such as those that cause dysentery, cholera, or leptospirosis, affecting both people and pets.
How you can reduce stormwater pollution:
Stormwater pollution can be reduced if Californians do their part to pick up after pets, properly maintain vehicles, secure loads on cars and in truck beds, collect trash in their vehicles to properly dispose later, and limit the use of pesticides and fertilizers when rain is in the forecast.
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